The hallucination inducing drug ‘ayahuasca’ has been used for centuries by tribes in South America during spiritual ceremonies. But as it becomes more mainstream for those seeking optic and auditory hallucinations, what exactly is it, and how does it affect your body and brain? Ayahuasca is actually a combination of the leaves of one plant (Psychotria viridis) and the vines of another (Banisteriopsis caapi) – neither of which have any hallucinogenic power on their own. But the leaves do contain DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine), which is structurally similar to your neurotransmitter serotonin and to the chemical found in magic mushrooms! The problem is, your gut enzymes normally deactivate DMT before it’s absorbed into your bloodstream; and this is where the vines come in.

They inhibit your gut enzymes from working properly, and allow DMT to travel within your blood and eventually cross the blood-brain barrier. The effects of the drink usually hit around half an hour after consumption, with hallucinations peaking after one hour, and subsiding within four to six hours. But these hallucinations are reported to be different from drugs like LSD and shrooms in that most people are fully aware that they are visually hallucinating. In addition, instead of ‘hearing voices’ the sounds heard are usually exacerbations of the noises already occurring around them.

And unlike those who consume LSD or shrooms from a ‘good trip’, many who drink ayahuasca are seeking to reconcile with their thoughts and emotions, as well as past and present traumatic events. Afterwards, most feel more at ease with their thoughts, and more accepting of their present situation. The Default Mode Network, is a distinct area of the brain that if overactive is associated with depression, anxiety and social phobia. And fMRI brain scans show that ayahuasca causes a significant decrease in activity within the default mode network. This is usually linked with a meditative state and explains why for those seeking optic and auditory hallucinations,some ayahuasca drinkers feel at peace with themselves, and find a renewed sense of purpose after a trip.

Additionally, DMT has been linked with proteins that promote the maintenance of long-term memory, neural plasticity and the regeneration of new neurons. It can bind to specific receptors found on mitochondria and endoplasmic reticula, and may even have the potential to kill certain cancerous cells. On top of this, alkaloids from the vine have been shown to induce apoptosis in mice melanoma cells and certain liver cancer cells in humans.

This is not to say that ayahuasca is a replacement for radiation or chemotherapy, but it may hold future possibilities for cancer research. Interestingly, unlike other drugs such as alcohol or cocaine, ayahuasca does not seem to create a tolerance, so regular drinkers aren’t required to drink more in order to achieve the same effect experienced the first time. After consumption, drinkers usually suffer violent retching, vomiting, and even diarrhea, as the brew is extremely acidic, making an upset stomach normal, even in experienced drinkers. And there is a dark side of Ayahuasca too – fatalities have been linked to its ingestion, particularly among tourists, though the manner of death is often undetermined. The increase in popularity has also given rise to fake shamans, unqualified to create the brew safely.

Ultimately, the data is currently too sparse to seriously consider ayahuasca recreationally and more clinical trials are required to conclude whether ayahuasca is safe. Special thanks to audible for supporting this episode to give you a free 30 day trial at audible.com/asap. This week we wanted to recommend the book ‘œHallucinations’ by Oliver Sacks which takes an in-depth look into the myriad of conditions that induce hallucinations, and shows how common they actually are! You can get a free 30 day trial at audible.com/asap and choose from a massive selection! We love them as they are great when you’re on the go.

Unless you were lucky and got your Xbox as a gift, you probably spent a pretty penny on it. Therefore, when it craps out on you, it can be understandably frustrating. No one wants to pay to have it repaired after spending so much to purchase it in the first place. The question that often comes up is “can I repair my Xbox 360 for free?”

If you’re asking that question right now: “can I repair my Xbox 360 for free,” then you’re going to find that there are a few possible solutions that can help solve your dilemma.

The first thing to do is try unplugging the power. After it is unplugged, you need to remove the hard drive then plug the power back in. Once the power is connected again, turn it on – and hope that has solved your problems! If it is working, shut the power off and hook your hard drive back in and get back to playing your game.

The second thing you can try is to completely unplug everything that was plugged into your console, including the video connections. Start with the power, but make sure you disconnect everything. Now, plug everything back properly and try it. Sometimes this will help sort out a faulty connection. If that doesn’t do the trick though, then you’re dealing with a more serious problem.

At this point you are probably wondering if it is still possible to “repair my Xbox 360 for free?” Before getting even more frustrated, first check to see if your system is still covered by the extended warranty. Microsoft has extended the warranty support to accommodate you and the many other gamers who have experienced these kind of problems.

There are a number of problems your Xbox 360 may be experiencing, but overheating is the most common problem. Make sure your console is well ventilated. Make sure there isn’t anything stacked on or around it that will impede the air flow to the unit. After making sure it has enough air circulation, blow all of the vents out with compressed air.

The last tip is to open up the machine on your own and follow instructions that you can find online. Just keep in mind that by repairing your Xbox 360 on your own, you are voiding any warranties. Although it is risky, it can save you $150 for Microsoft to repair it and ship it back out to you weeks later. This is a decision you will need to make when deciding whether or not it is worth it to “repair my Xbox 360” for free.

RTS has been an electronic gaming tradition since electronic gaming first began. Whether it was the silliness of magnetic linebackers a’ quivering, LED hash marks on a battery-powered and beeping handheld (with no passing allowed), Xs and Os with trackballs that nipped at your palms or a playbook program like Boom Beach for the iOS and Android, Real Time Strategy has been playable for as long as we’ve had electronic home gaming.

Like any game, Boom Beach hack roots from competition on acquiring free diamonds. It needs occasional upsets to shake things up. Nobody really likes a long-running dynasty, but everyone loves challenge. Players who’ve been with their home bases through winning raids know one when they see one. Yes, when an explosive unknown comes on the scene, everyone notices.

Boom Beach in its second year you watch the game evolve with a certain amount of pride as it goes through the motions of raising its position among RTS games. You know its stronger than last year, and the veterans spent all last year improving so they can compete with Boom Beach. The rookie has created competition throughout the gaming industry of free-to-play base building genre, and the star veteran worries about its status.

That’s how it felt last November of 2013 when SuperCell announced that Boom Beach would be debuting along side with its predecessor Clash of Clans. The analogy isn’t as tired as it seems. SuperCell surprised gamers with a solid, extremely good-looking action RTS game that only lacked extras like social chat and team play, at that time. Its running game needed work, but it was more fun and better looking than the stodgy veteran, Clash of Clans.

The only good thing about the above scenario is that the veteran gets a little less complacent and tries a little harder. In other words, competition makes everything better by bringing better things to the participants. SuperCell and other big players in the game of base building RTS are trying their best to compete with Boom Beach and the status it has achieved within just more than a year of stint in the market.

Think about it. SuperCell’s gaming series, despite prevailing on the mobile market front for over 4 years now, debuted on its platform with lackluster reviews. The competitors gave it stiff competition, but each year Boom Beach got a little better.

Simcity Buildit is a mobile game developed by Maxis and is being published by none other than the gaming giant Eletronic Arts. The game fits in the simulation genre, specifically the city building game, and your goal is to create and manage a fully functional city. Its mechanics revolve around the management of various assets such as electricity, water, sewage system and everything you can think of that are essential to a city. The game offer so much content and detail that it is easy to lose track of time and get addicted to it. The graphics are simple yet pleasing. You can see that the developers focused more on the gameplay.

Building a city will be a bit confusing at first and figuring the perfect synergy between assets will take some time. This has been the case for the most of the players of the game, especially those who are new to the whole idea of SimCity game itself. We can say, it is easy to learn but hard to master. But as long as you love to play the game, everything will be a lot easier. The multiplayer is its strong point, even though at launch was broken and inaccessible. But after a few patches and updates, it came together. The multiplayer gameplay creates a vast ecosystem of different cities that can be very immersive especially with the presence of players all over the world as shown in detail here.

There are also features that can give more spice to the base game. Imagine the look of your friend’s face seeing Godzilla wrecking havoc over the city. What about aliens, and earthquakes, and meteorites that will destroy the city? As far as the game’s overall quality of the game, EA and Maxis hit the nail in the head and Simcity Buildit live up to its predecessor even though this one is a mobile game for iOS and Android, something that were not present way back when SimCity PC versions were dominating the city building industry.

So, if you are a fan of Simcity game on whatever platform you can think of, you are totally going to enjoy Simcity Buildit. It’s huge advantage compared to its predecessor is its highly mobile platform. The mechanics, gameplay, graphics, everything are all top notched.

Can you get a decent game console for $100?As the little brother to the PS4 the PlayStation TV is definitely the most gaming focused of this group. Inside this is basically a PS Vita that connects to your TV which gives you access to a full library of games. It works with PS3 and PS4 controllers and you can get the console by itself or the bundle which comes with a PS3 controller and a few extras. Next up we’ve got the Amazon Fire TV. This might seem like a weird choice butte Fire TV is outfitted with some pretty decent specs including a quad core processor. This is a better rounded set top box with plenty of video and music apps on top of the games. It only comes with a remote out of the box however there’s also a Fire TV controller available. Last but definitely not least there’s the Nexus Player. This is the first device running Android TV which is based on Lollipop. The Player is packing some serious firepower as well with a quad core Intel Atom processor and like the Fire TV you can play some games with the included remote or you can also pick up the Nexus Player gamepad.

Now let’s crack these open. Inside the PlayStation TV bundle you’ve got a PS3 controller, Mini USB cable to charge it, eight gigabyte Vita memory card which is basically a necessity and a code to download The Lego Movie game. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find the PlayStation TV itself, an HDMI cable which is a nice addition and the slightly bulky two piece power adapter. The hardware is absolutely tiny and it’s rocking a decent selection of ports including Ethernet and a slot for Vita memory cards and game carts. Now let’s jump over to the Fire TV. Inside you’ll find a small power adapter, the Fire TV itself which is pretty decent looking in person and finally the Fire TV remote. Around back you’re looking at HDMI, Optical Audio, Ethernet and a USB port. Slide open up the Nexus Player and right up top you’ll find the Player itself. The hardware fits right between the others in terms of size however it’s fairly light on ports. You’ve got power in, a Micro USB port and HDMI out all tucked away on bottom. It’s nice to keep cables clean but that means the Player is Wi-Fi only, albeit with rock solid 802.11ac wireless. You’ve also got a remote which is pretty basic; it sports a microphone for voice search and a couple buttons. The Fire TV remote looks almost identical but has a few extra buttons and a nicer feel in the hand.

Turn on the PlayStation TV and you’ll see this is a game console first and foremost. Titles like Need for Speed Most Wanted show that games that look decent on a five inch handheld don’t quite make the transition to the big screen very well. Games like Nidhogg look basically identical to on the PS4 though, nicely running at sixty frames per second and being awesome fun at the same time. Minecraft isn’t quite as robust as on the bigger consoles though, it’s basically the full game but the frame rate is more than a little choppy at times. Arkham Origins: Blackgate does a good job of bringing a lot of what’s great about the full console game into a lighter version however here I ran into one of my first big problems, the lack of a touchscreen. Most Vita games work just fine on the PS3controller but if they use the front or back touchpads you’ll have to dive into the menu and enable the touch pointer by pressing down the left or right thumbstick. This is a decent workaround but you’re still going to run into some games where this won’t be very practical. Vita games are great but one of the best parts of the PlayStation TV is that it can play a huge variety of games. You’ve got a good selection of PS1 Classics and PSP games you can download from the store as well as PS3 games using PlayStation Now. This is streaming based so you’ll need a decent internet connection but once you’re up and running it can be a cool way of playing some of the best PS3 games out there like The Last of Us. There is some latency which can be minimized if you’re connected via Ethernet but for $20 a month it’s a cool way of adding some top notch games to the PlayStation TV. You’ve also got PS4 Link to connect to your PS4 as long it’s on the same network as the PlayStation TV. There’s a fair bit of latency with this right now so its nota perfect solution but it can be handy if you want to play PS4 games on multiple TVs in your house which is advantageous with Fifa 17 cheats.

Controller wise you can use either the bundled PS3 gamepad or the much better PS4 controller. This combined with the ability to play physical Vita games onto of all the digital titles makes the PlayStation TV hard to beat for $100, but it’s not quite that simple. The Amazon Fire TV has some gaming chops as well. Games like Asphalt 8 don’t quite measure up to console quality but it’s not too far off. Since the Fire TV is Android based you will find some actual console ports like GTA: San Andreas on board which you can run in HD with higher detail than the original, if you don’t mind PS2 like frame rates. Interestingly Minecraft runs better here than on the Vita, likely because it’s the Pocket Edition instead of a port of the console version. There are also a few exclusives like Sev Zero which is a hybrid tower defense game and first person shooter which is really surprisingly fun.

The controller is pretty decent; it mimics the layout of an Xbox gamepad and includes few media controls. If it’s not your thing though the Fire TV works with other Bluetooth controllers including the one from the Nexus Player. Since it’s running Android TV which’s fairly new the game library on the Nexus is a bit sparse right now. It comes with Badland preinstalled which is a really fun side scroller that not only looks awesome but could easily pass for a top notch console title. Leo’s Fortune is another mobile game that scales nicely to the TV; it runs smoothly and brings a solid plat former to the Nexus Player. Real Boxing is a very arcade style boxing game but it’s one of the better looking gambeson any of these consoles. Riptide GP2 has been around for a while but it’s still one of my favorite racing games for mobile and amazingly enough, it works well on the Nexus Player. Unfortunately only a tiny fraction of Android games have made the jump to Android TV and Minecraft is one of the big holdouts at the moment. I’m also not a huge fan of the controller, not only is it a fairly hefty $40 but the layout feels a little cramped to me, luckily just like the Fire TV though it is compatible with other Bluetooth controllers.

While all three have plenty of gaming creed it’s not enough to just play games in this group. Spend a few minutes with the PlayStation TV and you’ll find one of the big drawbacks, it’s limited to 720p compared to 1080 on the others. This would be a major problem for watching video, if that was much of an option in the first place. Download the YouTube app and it’ll let you get as far as opening it before reminding you that it’s only for the Vita. Try to download Netflix or Hulu Plus and you won’t even get the option of downloading. You can watch TV shows and movies from the PlayStation Store but if media is a big deal for you the PlayStation TV just doesn’t cut it. The Fire TV is much better rounded. Not only does it have the basics like Netflix and Hulu but you’ll also find apps like HBO Go, Twitch, Amazon Video and even solid music apps like my personal favorite, Spotify. The OS is nice and responsive and allows you to listen to music in other apps although there is a slight drawback and that is YouTube. Since Google doesn’t officially support Amazon’s version of Android you’ll have to settle for the web version of YouTube which works decently but tended not to play videos in 1080p for me. You do have a handy voice search option using the remote which is faster than manually typing but it’s pretty limited in what it looks for.

Android TV on the Nexus Player has hands down my favorite of the bunch. Just like Lollipop everything stays smooth at 60 FPS and it’s just quick to do basically everything. Up top you have your recommendations from YouTube and the Play Store with a slightly more useful voice search that pulls from lots of sources and, okay come on. The YouTube app is the best I’ve seen for the big screen and it also works like a Chromecast if you want to stream media from a phone or tablet. That’s important because like with games Android TV is still missing a few key apps like HBOGo which can be casted and Spotify which can’t be, leaving Google Play as your best option for music. Alright so that was a lot of information. The question is, are any of these actually worth it?

If gaming is your number one priority the PlayStation TV is hard to beat for $100.You’re getting a huge library of PlayStation games going all the way back to the PS1 through the PS4 and Vita. Android TV on the Nexus Player is right up there with the Xbox One in terms of looks and speed of the UI which I really appreciate but the app and game supports just a bit too limited at the moment. I doubt this will be a problem for very long but as of today the Nexus Player is more about promise than anything else. That leaves us with the Amazon Fire TV which really surprised me. It’s hands down the best media box herewith Ethernet, Optical Audio and basically every streaming service out there and the game library really isn’t half bad. It might not be quite as slick as the Nexus Player and have the huge titles of the PlayStation TV but for your $100 the Fire TV might just be the best of both worlds. So which would you go with?

A solemn reminder: although this year will be an incredible year for Dreamcast owners indeed, with amazing titles in the works (Shenmue 2, Floigan Bros., etc.), and many solid classics (Half-Life, Unreal Tournament) already on their way – there are a few games that weren’t so lucky. These are the games that lost their way, the games that, for one reason or another, seem to have dropped off the radar indefinitely. This week we will take a look at some of the games that fit into this sad, sad category.

Today we focus on Castlevania Resurrection. One of the longest running series in video game history, Castlevania thrusted players into a dark world where they had to battle vampires (including Dracula himself) and other creatures of the night for the fate of the world. Appearing on virtually every major system, Castlevania built an impressive fan-base with hardcore gamers, and its success on the Dreamcast seemed a sure bet.

The long-awaited twelfth addition to the series, was to see the Countess of Castlevania summoning the powers of hell to create a portal through which everybody’s favorite blood-sucker and his mindless minions could once again return to the Earth. Once he was resurrected, Dracula was to join together with the Countess to finally defeat the Belmont clan and claim the Earth as his own. Of course it would have been up to the player to guide his/her hero (we were never told exactly who the hero would be) through a ghoulie and trap-filled castle to finally put this immortal evil to rest.

Konami had promised an epic 3D adventure that used the Dreamcast’s amazing graphics capabilities to create a series of dark and gloomy worlds. Details were sparse, and the game quickly found itself mired in endless delays.

So what happened? By all accounts, Castlevania Resurrection should be coming out for the Dreamcast this year. One can go to Konami’s Website and access a page entirely devoted to the game, complete with an overview and six screenshots. And the support certainly seems to be there – we get a letter almost every day asking us about this particular game. However, we have received numerous official notices from Konami that Castlevania Resurrection will never see the light of day. It all started early last year when Konami released a series of statements that the game was being delayed indefinitely and a report from the game’s senior producer stating that the game was suffering from a lack of development resources. Then all talk, speculation and information about the game simply dried up. Castlevania Resurrection was dead in the water. Alas, it now appears as if the Dreamcast will never get a Castlevania game to call its own.